Every region of the world seems to have a local critter dish liable to raises visitors’ eyebrows — think boiled lobsters in Maine, dried grasshoppers in Mexico, snails in France and sheep stomach in Scotland.
In Amsterdam, two artists are trying to widen their city’s list of local tasty creatures — and expand minds, too — with dishes like the My Little Pony Burger, Peace Pigeon and Bambi Ball.
Their project, The Kitchen Of The Unwanted Animal is a food truck and specialty food provider featuring animals that are, generally, considered pests and almost always considered inedible.
“I think there is a kind of block in your head because it’s a pet or [an animal that’s not typically eaten],” says Rob Hagenouw, 55, one of the founders of the Kitchen. “Here we have pet, pest and eating animals — and we don’t mix them.” But he and his partner, Nicolle Schatborn, 51, are trying to show their neighbors that these animals can be delicious, and shouldn’t be wasted.>
It all started five years ago with a wild goose stew Schatborn and Hagenouw made for an art fair as part of a larger installation. The stew got them wondering about what happened to geese and other animals that were considered “unwanted” in Holland.
“For the past 50 years, it has not been normal to eat the goose in Holland because in the [1970s] the goose was a rare animal,” Hagenouw says.
European laws enacted in the 1970s to protect the rare geese remain in place — the geese cannot be killed unless considered a danger and cannot be sold for profit. In part as a result of these laws, the population of geese has grown to the point of becoming problematic, especially at Amsterdam’s Schipol Airport. Hunters are hired to shoot geese, in a very regulated way, to curb the dangers the birds pose to the engines of flying aircraft and to farmers’ fields. Now, some 400,000 geese are shot in Holland each year and then discarded, often being sent to factories to be ground into pet food.
Schatborn and Hagenouw started talking to some hunters, discovering that the hunted geese were “wasted,” and finally developed the idea to start a food truck. Their first product? Schipol Geese Croquettes.
The croquettes are prepared by boiling the meat, then adding butter to make a thick sauce and, eventually, rolling them in breadcrumbs. It’s an easy entre into the edible goose.
At first, the Schatborn-Hagenouw team made a workshop out of cleaning and preparing the geese, with friends helping out. (They discovered it’s pretty tedious work, so they now bring the geese to a butcher that specializes in birds.)
Rob Hagenouw and Nicolle Schatborn with their geese croquettes, made with boiled goose meat, butter and breadcrumbs.
Rob Hagenouw and Nicolle Schatborn with their geese croquettes, made with boiled goose meat, butter and breadcrumbs.
Courtesy of Rob Hagenouw
And how have the croquettes gone over? “Everyone likes it,” says Hagenouw. But more importantly, he says, it’s a conversation piece. “It was a start – a way to talk about what else is wasted.”
Initially, Hagenouw says, the plan was to wrap up the project after a year. But then they found out about the muskrat.
The semi-aquatic rodent is not indigenous to Holland; one legend has it that a duke brought them in from Hungary for fur in the 1870s. Some escaped and today, 150,000 or more of the invasive critters have made their homes in holes dug into Dutch canals.
Fortunately for The Kitchen For The Unwanted Animal, they’re also tasty.
“Muskrats are plant eaters, so they are really, really delicious when you cook them,” Hagenouw says.
Restrictions on hunters can sometimes make planning for the Kitchen tough. The Kitchen For The Unwanted Animal hosts a five-course “Big Pest Dinner” with a local restaurant twice a year. At a recent dinner, coot, a medium-sized water bird, was on the menu thanks to a hunter who was required by the government to catch enough that it should have supplied the dinner. But, at the last minute, he was told by government regulators that he was not allowed to catch any more.
“We had to find something else,” Hagenouw says. “[Hunting of these animals] is really restricted, it’s very bureaucratic, which is a good thing. We don’t like it when the animals are just shot for fun.”
The “Big Pest Dinner” menu — and that of the food truck — changes based on what’s available at the time. Which brings us to, maybe, the menu item that draws the most attention: the My Little Pony Burger.
The food truck sells about 100 My Little Pony Burgers a day at festivals.i
The food truck sells about 100 My Little Pony Burgers a day at festivals.
Arthur de Smidt /Courtesy of Nicolle Schatborn
Many people in Holland have horses as pets. But as Hagenouw tells it, during the economic crisis in 2011-2012, many families had to give them up because of the high cost of taking care of them. The sale price for a horse dropped by 80 percent.
There were a lot of horses on the market — and many ended up at the butcher. The Kitchen started buying meat from one of a few butchers that specialize in processing horse meat. The food truck now sells about 100 burgers a day at festivals.
“It’s nice meat,” Hagenouw says. “‘Ah, they have My Little Pony burgers,’ little girls will say. Most of the time the girls eat the burgers; it’s the mothers who don’t like it.”
He does say that not all the feedback is positive, especially in the case of the horse burgers. Long ago, horse was eaten in Holland (it’s still a delicacy in some parts of Italy and elsewhere), but only the older set remember, Hagenouw says. But Schatborn and Hagenouw say they try use it as an opportunity to educate people – asking what they eat, suggesting they think about how eating something like chicken differs— from eating goose or horse. They hope that people will recognize that eating horse, for example, is no different than eating cow.
Their “Peace Pigeon” roll – made by baking white breast of pigeon to rare, to prevent it from getting chewy — gets a lot of comments like, “pigeons are disgusting” or “they have diseases” from passersby. But, Hagenouw says, all of their food is prepared by providers under European food safety regulations. So, like with all of their offerings, they try to tell its story. They tell the story of pre-WWII times when pigeons were eaten more frequently. And how in WWII pigeons saved men in war by acting as messengers. And they write poems, like this one:
this is the kitchen of the undesired animal
the continuing polluting beast
the ones we see as an infestation
that bother us in our movements
those birds that ruin our safety
the rats are undermining the dikes
sometimes cultivated
for economic reasons or
fun meat or fur
eventually escaped and
without enemies they live free
and get loads of small ones
and we !!!
we are disturbed !!!!!!
the kitchen of the undesired animal says
no destruction
no needless waste
we shall eat!!!!!!
The Kitchen intends to take their truck on the road, starting this summer, to Belgium and, possibly, France. Next up, they hope to bring the fallow deer and the black crow to people’s plates — both of which are overabundant in Holland. They’ve also been working with crawfish, not native to Holland, and parakeets, considered invasive. And, Schatborn and Hagenouw have started researching unwanted animals in places as far as Korea and Australia.
The Kitchen Of The Unwanted Animal has also begun selling its geese croquettes to restaurants and pubs. And their food truck has been the inspiration for hunters, who’ve begun selling their own croquettes.
Hunters Martijn van de Reep and Tom Zinger say that the Kitchen was an inspiration for starting their Gebroeders de Wolf charcuterie — a butchery focused on goose about six months ago. They make rillettes, patés, smoked breast and dried sausages, selling them to other specialty stores, restaurants and supermarkets.
Maybe, a few years from now, the goose will not be so unwanted.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Thane: The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) is embroiled in a battle between a housing society and animal activists over a poster regarding the non-feeding of animals near Hiranandani Meadows. A poster was put up outside Niharika society stating that animals in the area cannot be fed and anyone found flouting rules would be fined. This notice was, however, removed on Thursday night and no one has any clue about who has taken it out.
Residents of the society said that they were facing a lot of problems because of the continuous feeding of birds in the area. They then put forth the matter before the TMC on March 7, who then put up the poster, which also had a TMC logo at the bottom.
However, this didn’t go down well with animal activists. The NGO, Plants and Animals Welfare, then sent a three-page letter to the TMC chief stating that they were being unjust to the animals. In fact, the founder of the NGO Nilesh Bhanage claimed that the poster was put up by the residents and not the TMC. He also claimed that that the TMC officials had taken down the poster on Thursday.
”After a correspondence with the TMC chief we learnt that no authority was given to put up such a poster outside the society. When the TMC officials realized that such a poster was put up they took it down,” Bhanage said
”While we don’t have a problem with the residents requesting people not to feed the pigeons in the area, we are only against the banning of feeding of all animals in the area,” Bhanage said.
Meanwhile, residents refuted all allegations and said that they were not involved in putting up the poster. They claimed that it was the TMC itself who had put it up. ”All we did was approach the civic officials with our grievances. They were very supportive and the next day the board was put up. A few officials even patrolled the area and stopped people from feeding the pigeons,” a resident said.
The civic chief was not available for comment. However, the PRO has assured that the matter would be looked into and necessary steps would be taken.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
The charity has now put out an appeal to homeowners to be careful with netting they put on their roofs to deter gulls this summer.
RSPCA inspector Liz Wheeler said: “We see this kind of thing happening all the time during the summer months.
“People put netting on their rooftops to deter birds from nesting but it’s often not put up properly, causing birds to become trapped and to suffer.”
Safely in the arms of the firefighter
Firefighters had to cut the bird out of the strong nylon netting and wire on the roof in Princess Avenue, Worthing, It was found to have some wing damage, so the bird was taken to a local vet, who kept it in overnight so it could regain some energy after its ordeal.
Ms Wheeler added: “It is an offence to intentionally trap wild birds like gulls, so we are asking people to be mindful of their actions and make sure that if they do use netting, they install it correctly and regularly check and maintain it.
“We spend all summer getting trapped gulls out of roof netting and it’s easily avoidable.”
Gulls and their nests are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and it is illegal to intentionally kill, take or injure wild birds – action can be taken against them only under licence. Anyone who traps a bird may then be responsible for its care under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
We spend all summer getting trapped gulls out of roof netting and it’s easily avoidable
RSPCA inspector Liz Wheeler
It is also illegal to take or damage a nest or egg of a wild bird. Herring gulls in particular are a species of conservation concern in the UK and research has shown that overall herring gull populations are actually in decline.
Each year, around 2,000 reports are made to the RSPCA about wild birds trapped in or behind netting. A major cause is bird-deterrent netting. This can be a humane and effective way of keeping birds off structures without resorting to lethal measures, but it must be fit for purpose, correctly installed and regularly checked and maintained.
Problems arise when netting is put up incorrectly or becomes damaged, leaving gaps where birds can enter and become trapped. These birds can suffer a long and painful death from injury or starvation. Bird-deterrent netting is often fixed in high or hard-to-reach areas, making the rescue of trapped animals difficult and dangerous.
People who see dead birds in netting, or are aware of a regular issue of birds becoming trapped in netting, are asked to tell the RSPCA the address, property owner (if known) and date of the incident by emailing wildlife@rspca.org.uk. The charity will then write to the owner with advice and guidance.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Pigeons have been ruffling the feathers of more and more people in recent years.
Last year, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) received 2,490 complaints about them – mostly about hygiene, environmental issues resulting from their droppings, and concerns over diseases and people feeding them.
The increase has largely been attributed to AVA’s First Responder Protocol implemented in 2012, which includes a 24-hour hotline for reports of animal-related issues.
The Straits Times Forum has also received letters about pigeons pecking on food scraps at coffee shops and hawker centres.
Junior college student Ng J-Cyn said Ghim Moh market is a particular hot spot. Pigeons fly within “inches of diners to peck at crumbs or food waste on the floor”, said the 16-year-old, who is concerned about them spreading diseases. She added: “They also contribute to a very negative dining experience.”
Fellow Forum contributor, Ms Lee Kay Yan, 41, believes the pigeon population will explode unless people stop feeding them.
She said: “Three to five pigeons don’t cause a nuisance but a flock of them do.”
The feeding of pigeons has been banned since 1973 and those caught flouting the rules are fined up to $500. Last year, 60 people were caught doing it, up from just 10 in 2011.
One of the diseases pigeons can spread is psittacosis, a bacterial infection of the lungs with pneumonia-like symptoms.
The bacteria become airborne when the bird droppings dry up and can be inhaled by humans.
Dr Christina Low, medical director of SMG Medical, said the health risk to most people is low, although infants, the elderly and individuals who have low immunity “are more vulnerable”.
She advised people to wash their hands thoroughly before meals and reduce pigeon attacks by clearing unfinished food and dirty crockery.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) requires all food shop operators to clean tables promptly and cover rubbish bins. Those who fail to clean tables, for example, can be fined $300 and given four demerit points.
As for Ghim Moh market, the NEA said it has asked the table- cleaning contractor to step up the clearing of tables and crockery.
The agency added that it has so far received only one complaint about pigeons at the market.
Nationwide, it received 35 pigeon-related complaints last year and 36 the year before.
The AVA said it responds to pigeon-related feedback by working with the relevant parties, such as town councils and the NEA.
While poison bait is traditionally used for heavily infested areas that need fast elimination of the birds, a spokesman for pest firm Pest Solute said the use of netting at roof gaps, spikes or a type of sticky gel on window ledges to prevent the birds from nesting is more commonly used.
Food areas are a little trickier and need a combination of these measures, according to Ms Gloria Ngoi, business development manager at bird control firm Mastermark.
These methods, however, are not sustainable if people continue to feed the birds, said Forum writer Ms Lee.
“Preventive measures are better, through good design of buildings to prevent roosting and entry by birds.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
DEAR JOAN: I am writing about a barking dog problem, and it’s not what you think.
We live in a very quiet neighborhood and are retired, so we are home a lot. Our next-door neighbors have two small dogs that usually spend all day in their backyard. Surprisingly, they tend to be very quiet for a couple of “ankle-biters.” They only bark briefly when somebody walks past, or in response to a dog on the other side of their fence, or for other normal reasons.
About once a day they go bonkers when their owner comes home (they know the sound of his car), but that only lasts for a minute at most, and the way they carry on actually makes me laugh.
Cute is cute, but a dog’s barking can lead to trouble. (Jill Johnson/Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
Somebody nearby has complained about these dogs to the county and our neighbor has now gotten two letters notifying him to keep them quieter. He is doing his best to improve the situation, but cannot confer with whoever complained because they took the coward’s way out and never attempted to meet with him directly.
How can our neighbor defend himself and his dogs? We are the residents most affected by the barking, and we do not mind. There are plenty of other dogs in the area that bark more than these two, and for no particular reason.
Can the county do anything to take away his dogs? Shouldn’t the county survey all the neighbors to determine the seriousness of the problem, rather than rely on one person’s anonymous complaint? It is kind of surprising to me that I am taking the side of the dog owner, but I am steaming mad that somebody is being a cowardly jerk.
Barbara Hill
El Cerrito
DEAR BARBARA: The county is obligated to notify the owner when someone makes a complaint about excessive noise, but for a full investigation to be launched, two or more people, living in different households within 300 feet of the barking dog, must make complaints.
The law defines excessive noise as being “so continuously or incessantly as to unreasonably disturb the peace or quiet.”
Whether the county is officially investigating or not, it would behoove your neighbor to be proactive. If it is determined that the dogs are a nuisance, they may be taken away and euthanized. The owner also can face fines and fees. Plus, keeping dogs as quiet as possible is the good neighbor and responsible pet owner thing to do.
I’d recommend leaving the dogs indoors, where their barking would be muted. If that’s not possible, there are many anti-barking devices on the market.
First Alert recently sent me its Bark Genie automatic ultrasonic bark deterrent unit to try with my yappy dog. The device emits a high-pitched sound when it detects barking.
It stopped my dog in mid-bark, but it also made him not want to be inside the house when it was turned on. He moped around like I’d taken his favorite toy away from him. I’m now experimenting with the company’s handheld device.
The devices can be placed outdoors, and considering what’s at stake, trying them would be a good idea. There also are anti-bark collars that emit ultrasonic sounds or release a spray of citronella. Personally, I wouldn’t use a shock collar.
You also can write a letter of support, outlining your experience. Your testimony could be important if nuisance charges are filed.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
NORWAY — The pigeons are back in the Odd Fellows Hall on Main Street.
A broken first-floor window on the back side of the vacant building appears to be the access point, and it’s not the first time they’ve gotten in through broken windows.
In July 2013, building owner Sam Patel was notified by Code Enforcement Officer Joelle Corey-Whitman that the town would take legal action because the broken windows were a public hazard. The eight broken second-story windows and the lower half of the eight third-story windows eventually were covered with plywood.
Patel, a retailer in southern Maine, purchased the empty, partially-renovated, three-story, brick building in December 2012 from TD Bank. It was transferred to Patel’s limited liability company, Jasmin LLC, on Dec. 14, 2012. Since then, no action has been taken to reuse it.
Efforts by the Sun Journal to reach Patel were unsuccessful.
In 2008, the interior of the building was gutted by the former owners, but efforts to renovate and reuse the building ceased in 2010 when they lost control of the building in foreclosure.
The building remains empty. The first floor is covered with pigeon droppings and the tin ceiling appears to be rusted and broken in many spots. Temporary electrical lighting remains in the ceiling and a few pieces of lumber are on the floor.
A study of Odd Fellows Hall by Resurgence Engineering and Preservation of Portland several years ago indicated it would cost more than $800,000 to fully renovate the building.
The Odd Fellows Hall was named one of Maine’s 10 most endangered historic places by Maine Preservation of Portland in 2013.
The basement and first floor were built in1894 after the “Great Fire” destroyed much of the downtown business district. The other floors were added in 1910. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is part of Norway’s historic downtown district.
The third floor contained a high-ceiling ceremonial space for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Norway Lodge No. 16, which owned the building during the 19th century. The second floor had a kitchen and large dining area, along with law offices and a courthouse. The first floor traditionally has been storefronts.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Every region of the world seems to have a local critter dish liable to raises visitors’ eyebrows — think boiled lobsters in Maine, dried grasshoppers in Mexico, snails in France and sheep stomach in Scotland.
